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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24972628">Day 178</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard'>Josh_the_Bard</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Year in Kirkwall [178]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:54:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>944</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24972628</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Merrill/Noll, Merrill/OC</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Year in Kirkwall [178]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Day 178</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Varric was tired of mages and templars and demons. Truth be told, he had had his fill a long time ago, but when three of your best friends were apostates it was hard to avoid. Blondy had called their little band together warning that some members of the mage underground were planning to recreate the rituals that forced demons to possess templars four years ago. Shit, Varric didn’t like to think about it. Could he be possessed that way? He had seen how Blondy got on with the spirit in his head and Varric wanted absolutely none of that.</p><p>Bianca was ready, he had spent the morning checking her strings and lovingly oiling her gears. She would run smooth and sing her song of death. Bianca was always reliable, she had his back when he needed her and she had never let Varric down. Verric would go to the ends of Thedas for Hawke, and all the way to Antiva for Anders, but Bianca asked nothing of him. Her support was unconditional, she was the kind of friend Varric aspired to be.</p><p>He took the stairs to Darktown. So many stairs in Kirkwall, who’s idea was it to build a city on a giant hill? The ancient magisters probably had slaves or magic to carry them up and down all the stairs. They probably made their stairs extra unpleasant to further crush the will of their slaves, elven and human slaves who had legs that were absolutely too long in Varric’s opinion. Each step was like climbing his own personal mountain. At least the ones around Hightown had a dwarven addition that the merchant’s guild built years ago.</p><p>Before meeting Hawke and Blondy, Varric could have counted on his fingers the number of times he had been to Darktown, now he couldn’t remember the last time he had gone a week without visiting. It was truly one of the worst places in the world. Dark and damp like a cave, dark and dingy, also like a cave, full of shit, spiders and poisonous plants, like a… It was basically a cave full of people who wanted to stab and rob you, which, now that he thought about it, still described most caves around Kirkwall.</p><p>Varric was the last to arrive at the clinic, he blamed his short legs. Blondy was there with Hawke, Aveline, Daisy and her new friend, Padfoot. Padfoot was a hard elf to read, angry all the time it seemed, not the personality he would have expected to pair well with Merrill. He had tried to look into them to make sure Daisy was alright but the only one he could get an honest answer out of was Brennan and she had a very complicated relationship with them.</p><p>“Now that everyone is here,’ Blondy said. Varric ignored the judgment in his voice. “We need to figure out how to stop the resolutionists from summoning demons into people without damaging the resistance to the point where they can no longer oppose Meredith.”</p><p>“Is that what we need to do?” Aveline asked. “Or do we need to stop dangerous people who are trying to destabilize the city?”</p><p>“Obviously preventing innocent deaths is our top priority,” Hawke said. “Anders, you already tried to convince them to stop and they wouldn’t listen.”</p><p>“Tell me where they are.” Padfoot said, “and they will not live long enough to complete their ritual.”</p><p>“We can’t just wipe out the leadership of the underground,” Blondy protested. Padfoot took a step towards Blondy and pointed an accusatory finger at him.</p><p>“Every time you coddle and protect dangerous mages, innocent people die. More often than not it's the elves that take the worst of it. I only agreed to come today so I could prevent that from happening, but it’s clear that helping people is not your priority.”</p><p>Blondy started to pulse with blue energy, the way he did just before losing control. Padfoot slipped a hand to his dagger belt. Varric had no doubt who would win in a fight between the two but there was Daisy, caught in the middle.</p><p>“This might be a stupid suggestion,” Varric said. Everyone stopped to look at him. “But could we sabotage their ritual? That way no one gets possessed and no one has to get stabbed.”</p><p>Blondy stopped glowing and took on a pensive look. Padfoot didn’t relax but it was a start.</p><p>“I don’t see how we could without involving the templars,” Blondy said. “And they wouldn’t stop at suppressing the ritual.”</p><p>“What if we just chased the spirits away?” Daisy suggested. “Like we did… like we did with Fenryal?”</p><p>There was a long silence. Hawke and Blondy started chattering with each other about magical theory that went over everyone’s head. Eventually they nodded to each other.</p><p>“We will need lots of lyrium,” Hawke said. Everyone turned to Varric.</p><p>“I’ll arrange a bulk order as soon as possible.”</p><p>“We’ll also need to hide ourselves pretty close to the ritual sight,” Daisy added.</p><p>“If you tell me where,” Padfoot said, looking at Blondy, “I’ll find you a hiding spot.”</p><p>“I remember when we went into the fade before,” Avelie said, “we were helpless and asleep. I’ll need to keep close to watch over you while you go in.”</p><p>“I don’t know how the Keeper sent the non-mages in,” Daisy admitted. “So it will have to be just us three that go in.”</p><p>“Three?” Hawke said. Daisy flushed and looked at her feet. </p><p>“I won’t let you down again,” she said. “I know what’s at stake.”</p><p>“Then we all have things to prepare,” Hawke said with a nod. “We better get to it.”</p>
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